Goodbye Bozos

The Mighty Handful (Final Show), Shea Stadium, 7/25/09

They always played best when they didn't care about putting on a show. By the time the end had come their act was a known commodity and everyone knew what to expect, and so did they. The set list was basically the same as the last four shows and they ended with Uptown Drunks, which is still my favorite song of 2008 (Paper Planes is #2). Some people were crying because something so insignificant in the grand scheme can still have meaning. We were all young and beautiful once, and now we are old and tired and have other things to do. Toil. Death. When the house cut the PA, it faded up Born to Run, which seemed appropriate.

Somewhere in this anecdote is a comment on the changing of the seasons and the coming of autumn and then winter and then spring, when things begin again.

Earlier in the night there was an older guy floating around who looked like a NARC. He was taking pictures, but it was strange because no one had seen him before; no one wanted to engage with him because he looked like a NARC. As it turns out he was shooting for Paper Magazine for an article about Shea Stadium, which is all fine and dandy except he left before the main event. He couldn't have known.

The lead picture that accompanied the article ended up being a static shot of Museyroom, and there were a few shots of kids milling about and drinking or smoking. In one picture, Rich Toledo is sitting against the wall, alone, tired. He is wearing one of the twenty or so Mighty Handful shirts that were made by hand and sold before the first 741 show. I know it's Rich because I recognize him and I know the shirt he is wearing because he wore it to every Handful show. From the picture in the magazine, however, he's just some kid in a messy shirt.

Somewhere in this anecdote is a comment on defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory or the randomness of opportunity or how fleeting things can be.

Onward and Upward

The Mighty Handful show on Saturday disappointed me because of my friends. Because of their lack of commitment to excellence I am/continue to be alone in my age group and in my appreciation of said band. I also made new friends with Dulaney Banks (just scroll down. I don't feel like hyperlinking myself) and was told to check out Calamity Sam's next show in April; the discussion of the particulars and wherefores went something like this,

Sam: Hey Richard Gin, I'm Sam.

Me: Hey dude. 'sa pleasure.

Sam: You're here for the Handful?

Me: You know it.

Sam: Yeah, they were in my band... ...supposed to be in my band.

Me: They ditched?

Sam: Yeah.

Me: Bastards.

Sam: Totally.

Me: They dropped you like Gary Young, huh?

Sam: Yeah! Exactly! Awesome! You should come shoot my band?

Me: Right on.

Sam: Yeah. We're better than them.

Me: Word. I'm on it.

END

Anyway, that should be interesting.

NEW THOUGHT:

True to form and as I suspected, the Lord Has Provided. I'll be away for the next work week in Pennsylvania and Delaware for... ...work and will likely not be updating or blogging in the mean. Hopefully this will be because I am having breakfasts across from the Holiday Inn Express at a Waffle House. This of course means no pictures for a while followed by a frantic upload on Saturday and Sunday.

Fuck it. How about some news you can use:

BEHOLD THE MAJESTY OF ANTIMAGIC

Antimagic, Ted McGrath's non-Savonarola-based project (featuring both members of Savonarola) will be at The Knitting Factory on Saturday the 22nd of this month. I will be there with bells on. Doors at 8, apparently though I'm sure that is subject to change. Past instances where Ted's solo-projects were found to be belligerently oppressive have been relegated to the past with hidden Smile-ish sub-melody. It will rule.

Following the next weekend I will be in Denver for two days (as of now -- these things change) and will hopefully be dining or drinking irresponsibly with Danny and Nina, whom I have not seen in... since they moved to Denver. Or before that. I think I missed the going away party for some reason.

Now, I rest.